


a villain by any other name

by arhat (plantmajor), plantmajor



Series: the hawkmoth saga [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Hawk Moth is Gabriel Agreste, Humor, Humour, basically crack, mentions one season 2 villain but no spoilers, papa agreste being papa agreste, why does there have to be two ways to spell humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 06:59:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12859254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plantmajor/pseuds/arhat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/plantmajor/pseuds/plantmajor
Summary: Gabriel Agreste prided himself on his ability to improvise names, especially crazy villainous names. So, of course, imagine his horror when he blanks out one day.





	a villain by any other name

 

Gabriel Agreste was a world-renowned fashion designer. He could look at anything, even the craziest thing you can think of, and quickly sketch a design that would be quickly sold out by the following week. It was a talent that got him a job immediately after university, a talent that allowed for him to build his fashion empire.

An exquisite design, though, was nothing without a proper name. Names, when given to peice of clothing, must be attractive. When given to a villain, though, they can be as disgusting and fear-inducing as needed. Fortunately, Gabriel was as good at naming things as he was designing his latest fall line.

Hey, who else could think of something as clever as Evillustrator for a love-sick artist? Or even Befana, after the Italian myth, for a grandmother deserted by her granddaughter? He wasn’t implying that _no one_ could, but on the spot? Not likely.

Not to mention the fantastic suits that his victims got-- the color choices, the material! If he wasn’t a super villain trying to steal magic jewelry by manipulating the negative emotions of hormone-ridden Parisians, he would very much like to design some clothing based on the Bubbler, or Reflekta. But that’s not the point.

The point is that Gabriel prided himself on his ability to improvise ~~puns~~ names, especially crazy villainous names. So, of course, imagine his horror when he blanks out one day.

That one day, an aspiring cook straight out of university had been applying for a job at Le Grand Paris, when, you guessed it, Chloé Bourgeois had completely ruined her chances. The mayor’s daughter had been envious of the amount of time her father was wasting while interviewing the cook, that she had sabotaged her (Gabriel wasn’t exactly sure how, but he could only imagine when it came to Chloé).

Speaking of Chloé, where would he be without her? If it wasn’t for that girl’s personality, he would only have akumatized less than half of the victims he’d had now ( ~~especially the fact that she was close with Adrien, and she would never hurt him, lessing the chance of him getting akumatized because of her~~ ).

Chloé’s father had felt some sympathy for the cook, giving her a menial job as a maid. That hadn’t helped at all, so the girl had locked herself in a storage closet to fume and cry. Just the thought of it brought a small smile to Gabriel’s face; he cupped his hands together, and in his palms landed a butterfly. Like he always did, the man closed his hands, then let the newly purple butterfly fly off to the prestigious hotel.

After spending a few minutes awkwardly standing in his cove (butterflies were slow, okay?), the familiar purple, glowing outline of his mask appeared on his face, and he was finally connected to the cook. He laughed. “I am Hawkmoth.” Gabriel began, resting his hands on his staff. “What that pesky blonde did to you was unacceptable, and she, just like her father, deserve to pay. With my help, you can dust away anyone who brings you down. All I ask in return are Chat Noir and Ladybug’s miraculouses. What do you say…?”

That was when he blanked. Any idea of a name for this particular girl had completely fled his mind. He massaged his temple with one hand. “What do you say,” he repeated. “Uh..?”

“Jenna.”

He jumped in alarm. “What?”

“You need my name, right? It’s Jenna, Mister.. Hawkmom..?”

“Hawkmoth,” he scowled. “It’s Hawkmoth. And it’s not your real name I need, it’s your alias.”

“My alias?” The girl asked, confused, as she wiped away the remainder of her tears. “Like.. for a villain?”

“Yes. For a villain.”

“And it’s maid-themed, right?”

“Yes.” He paused. “What do you say.. SuperMaid?”

“What? That’s lame.”

He rolled his eyes even though she couldn’t see him. “Like you could think of anything better.”

“Well, I want the job. Do I really need a name?’

He groaned loudly, making the girl jump. There was a moment of silence, as Gabriel brainstormed, but it was interrupted by Jenna. “...Hawkmoth?”

He raised his hand. “Wait.”

Another pause.

“...is this going to take long?”

“Just wait! I’ve almost got it!”

“Uh.. okay. Well. Let me know.”

“Shh!”

He snapped his fingers repeatedly (a tick he did when he thought; he’d been told that it was disruptive, but it helped him). Why was a maid-themed ~~pun~~ name so hard for him? Maybe something pretty in french? La servante? No.

Le femme de ménage, la fille de salle? Uh, no.

Gabriel groaned again, and now his feet were tapping impatiently. “Give me one moment, please.” He said, before walking over to the wall closest to him. Pressing a button, he waited until Nathalie’s voice rang clear.

“ _Yes, sir?_ ”

“What’s another name for a maid? Something… that seems a bit degrading, but is actually a bit badass?”

A minute passed. “ _La femme de chambre?”_

He pondered it for a moment. “Good enough. Thank you, Nathalie.”

“ _No problem, sir._ ”

Gabriel made his way back to the center of the secret room, standing straight and puffing out his chest. “Okay, Jenna, I have it now.”

“What is it?”

“Well, I can’t just tell you. I have to repeat my opening.”

“But you said that already. Hawkmoth, revenge, blah, blah, blah. I accept the offer. What’s my super name?”

“It’s better if I say my monologue.”

“Okay, yes, fine.”

Gabriel coughed, clearing his throat, before repeating his opening line. “I am Hawkmoth. What that pesky blonde did to you was unacceptable, and she, just like her father, deserve to pay. With my help, you can dust away anyone who brings you down. All I ask in return are Chat Noir and Ladybug’s miraculouses. What do you say, la Femme de Chambre?”

“Ooh, not bad.”

He sighed, annoyed. “Yes or no.”

“Yes, sir Hawkmoth.”

His lips twitched upward, forming a small smirk. “Get your revenge and those miraculous, Chambermaid.” He said, deepening his voice to make himself sound even more ominous.

“Yes, sir!”

The connection was cut off, and Gabriel face palmed with his free hand. Okay, that was it, he needed to start keeping a notebook filled with  ~~puns~~ aliases. This couldn't happen again.


End file.
